Literally Speaking

This week's reads:The Reader
by Bernhard SchlinkThe Help
by Kathryn Stockett

Recent Reads

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
3. Back When We Were Grownups
by Anne Tyler
4. Last Orders
by Graham Swift
5. Love Medicine
by Louise Erdrich
6. Coraline
by Neil Gaiman
7. The Stone Diaries
by Carol Shields
8. Ship Fever
by Andrea Barrett
9. The Sea
by John Banville
10. The World Without Us
by Alan Weisman
11. Contagious
by Scott Sigler
12. Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett
13. A Separate Peace
by John Knowles
14. Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini
15. The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
16. White Oleander
by Janet Fitch
17. City of Thieves
by David Benioff
18. The Lazarus Project
by Aleksandar Hemon

(Waiting) On My Bookshelf

1. The Shack
by William P. Young
2. The White Tiger
by Aravind Adiga
3. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
by David Wroblewski
4. 2666
by Roberto Bolaño
5. A Foreign Education
by Craig Alan Williamson

Like the vast majority of the world I don’t have any direct financial interests in the fallen Wall Street financial institutions that have shaken the stability of money markets worldwide. That’s just the problem; the mindless risk-taking of a few people still affects the entire planet.

melamine, “protein substitute”, anyone?

Being someone who loves to drink milk and has nothing against China or the Chinese, the news of melamine finding itself into food it was not invented to mix with is bothersome. Retailers have been ordered to pull out all dairy products which have originated from China. Some consumers have gone as far as to refrain from purchasing any China-made food products. The DOH has named Green Food Yili Pure Milk and Mengniu Original Drink Milk positive for melamine contamination. An independent laboratory found 8 pruducts containing melamine, including a brand of corned beef, luncheon meat, and get this, an iced coffee shake premix served in a popular (unspecified) coffee chain. Got to warn The Accomplice. I take my brewed coffee without frills.

Add to that the licensed physicians who have chosen to practice abroad, either as doctors or as allied medical personnel.

A Horror Story Continues.

global warming

the government

The good stuff (also a short list, but hey there are still many things to be happy about!):

free movies

Cine Europa 11 at the Rodelsa Hall of Liceo University started yesterday, and runs till tomorrow. Free movie passes are available at the Office of Cultural and Public Affairs.

A scan of the schedule is here. (Thanks to Els (a.k.a. mommy dharlz; darn the h and the z!).)

no price increase

In petroleum products, that is. In spite the global financial crisis the price of crude oil has remained stable. No rollback this weekend, though.

Velez St

Finally the partial rehabilitation of the once pothole-ridden thoroughfare is complete (the Yacapin to Provincial Capitol stretch). The segments that were unfinished during the fiesta period in August have been opened to traffic.